Synonyms:
Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Cycas rumphii complex
The C. rumphii complex comprises a number of related taxa which have sometimes been considered conspecific. Differences between these taxa lie mainly in the shape and indentation of the lamina of the megasporophylls.
- Cycas circinalis L.: has leaflets not more than 13 mm broad, non-pepectinate megasporophyll with large lamina. Microsporophyll apex attenuate, reflexed. Distribution: southern India.
- Cycas glauca Miq.
- Cycas micronesica K.D.Hill
- Cycas rumphii Miq.: has broad, falcate, hard, glossy leaflets with relatively broad bases, usually wholly spinescent petiole, and narrowly triangular megasporophyll lamina with a slender apical spine. Distribution: Indonesia, S. Borneo ans along the north coast of Papua New Guinea.
- Cycas thouarsii R.Br.: has distinctly bluish new leaves with wholly spinescent petioles and the pronounced stout spines on the microsporophylls. Seeds do not have a crested sclerotests. Distribution: Madagascar, the Comoros Islands, Mayotte and the Seychelles. Scattered occurrences are also known on the East Coast of Africa from Tanzania throughout Kenya south the Mozambique.
- Cycas zeylanica (J.Schust.) A.Lindstr. & K.D.Hill
Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) Jones, D.L. “Cycads of the World”, 2nd edn. Reed Books, Sydney, Australia. 2002.
2) Else Marie Friis, Peter R. Crane, Kaj Raunsgaard Pedersen “Early Flowers and Angiosperm Evolution” Cambridge University Press, 18 August 2011